A terrible catastrophe that shook the entire world — on April 26, 1986, an explosion occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The consequences of the tragedy are still felt to this day. An exclusion zone with a radius of 30 kilometers was set up around the station. Free access there was prohibited because of radioactive contamination. No people remained in the exclusion zone. But the animals stayed — feral domestic ones and ordinary forest ones.
According to scientists, some animals developed real superpowers due to the effects of radiation.
Black frogs
Normally they are bright green and cheerful. Those same frogs living in the exclusion zone have become almost black — researchers believe this is a response to the area's radiation background. Frogs of a dark color had a greater chance of survival, and in less than 40 years they evolved, changing color. The closer the frogs live to the epicenter of the explosion, the darker the color of their skin.
Superbacteria
On the wings of Chernobyl swallows, bacteria were found that were resistant to the effects of deadly gamma radiation. Despite the irradiation, they were doing perfectly well and reproducing. In 2016, scientists published a study in the journal Scientific Reports: they drew a direct parallel between the bacteria's ability to survive and radiation exposure.
Wolves with immunity to cancer
The wolves developed what scientists call a superpower — the ability to resist oncological diseases. Scientists discovered that the predators possess a genetically altered immune system — and if researchers find the key to this mystery, they will have a powerful weapon against cancer in their hands. The genes mutated because of the effects of radiation — there is no doubt about that.
A new species of dog
Thousands of dogs live in the exclusion zone. They are the descendants of feral domestic dogs abandoned by people during the evacuation. Scientists at the University of South Carolina analyzed the DNA of 302 dogs living near the nuclear power plant and found that their genes differ significantly from the DNA of other, ordinary dogs. The researchers are confident that this, too, is a consequence of radiation exposure: the dogs' DNA changed so that the animals could survive and even reproduce in this extremely unfavorable region.
